The Canadian military had to send its fledgling fighter pilots down to the United States because of ongoing problems with training, including a number of aircraft crashes, according to documents obtained by the Citizen.

Canadian and foreign fighter pilots were being trained by the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program at facilities in Moose Jaw, Sask., and Cold Lake, Alta.

The Department of National Defence oversees the training, with support services provided by Bombardier.

But in 2011 Bombardier brought in a program to cut its costs, resulting in changes to the level of training services provided, according to a January 2012 Canadian military briefing report.

“Most notable of these was a reduction in aircraft availability,” then Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk was told in the briefing. “In turn, this negatively impacted the pilot production capability of NFTC due to diminished student throughput, which resulted in production delays for all participating nations.”

As a result, the RCAF had to send its pilot students to an American-sponsored program, according to the document. That U.S. training ran from 2011 to 2013. It is unclear whether foreign pilots also had to go to the U.S.

Another problem for the NFTC had to do with the Hawk aircraft that pilots were being trained on. The life of the aircraft had been drastically reduced because of stresses on the airframe were greater than expected. In addition, there were two Hawk crashes, both attributed to engine-related issues, according to the briefing.

“The resultant investigations and cautious return to flying operations have each had a negative impact on (pilot) production,” the briefing note added.

It was obtained by the Citizen under the access-to-information law.

No details were provided on how many pilots were sent to the U.S. and how much that cost Canadian taxpayers.

The NFTC is offered by the Canadian government to NATO and other nations. Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Singapore and Saudi Arabia have in the past provided students to the program, according to the military briefing. Finland, Germany, the U.S., Britain and Canada, among other nations, provide instructors.

The NFTC contract, valued at $3.5 billion, was awarded to Bombardier in 1998.

As a result of the NFTC problems, the Canadian Forces conducted negotiations with Bombardier to try to increase service levels. The air force also “dramatically altered” its production of pilots by revising the training they received.

RCAF spokesman Major James Simiana said the air force has taken a number of steps to deal with the situation. After a Hawk crash in Cold Lake in June 2011, the military imposed a limit of how many flying hours the aircraft engines could be run, he noted.

Since then a key part was redesigned by the company supplying the engines. “At this time, the Hawk fleet is at full programed serviceability,” Simiana noted in an email.

He also pointed out that the pilot training course was rewritten in 2012 and “includes such measures as the optimization of simulation, getting the best use out of airborne training events to ensure maximum efficiency of the pilot training pipeline.”

Peter Boniface, general manager of Bombardier military aviation training, said he recently arrived at the Moose Jaw facility so does not have information on what happened before with pilots having to go down to the U.S.

However, he noted that issues with the Hawk aircraft engine have now been taken care of. The stresses on the Hawk airframe, called airframe fatigue, are closely monitored and are not a safety issue, he added.

“Right now the program has been very successful,” said Boniface. “Last year we had a record flying year for the NFTC program.”

The RCAF is also looking at a new training program for pilots in the coming years.

That will cost more than $1.5 billion, with bids expected from various companies sometime in 2018, according to the recently published Defence Acquisition Guide.

“The project must ensure a seamless transition with existing pilot training programs and an agile and flexible production level to meet future needs,” the guide noted.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.